The adventures of a chastised husband who loves cycling.

Doing what we do best

One of the things I learned in the early days of our marriage was that each of us brought unique talents to the relationship. Sure, we had the pie in the sky idea of how we would do everything together and it would be awesome. Reality has a way of slicing that pie in a way you never expect.

Even though I grew up on a farm and have done all sorts of farm things, I have never been too handy with tools. I mean I had a good friend tell me during our high school days that I was about as “mechanically apt as a jackass” and I wear that badge with honor. A couple of times during our marriage, MrsL has insisted that do typical projects: put up a privacy fence, put together furniture, assemble toys…etc. Each of those projects got done but there was lots of cursing and throwing things. The fence looked like a toddler put it up…I can’t draw a straight line with a ruler so trying to keep a fence straight over 30 yards…was surely destined to fail. Now, I am a decent assistant on such projects just don’t put me in charge.

MrsL, on the other hand, can look at a blank wall and envision exactly what she wants and then makes it happen. She is a tinkerer. For example, we have been looking at cars for my son and met a guy with a car for sale. It had numerous little issues that made it an easy decision to pass. One of them was the lid on the center console. When the owner pointed out the issue she immediately started looking at it and while I was out looking at the engine (for obvious leaks) she had figured out how to fix it. Now the owner had told us he had taken it to the dealership and they couldn’t fix it (another red flag for not buying…he was not a good liar) so she called him on it by showing him exactly how to fix it in less than 15 minutes.

So, let me get to the point of this post. Yesterday’s project was putting up more shelves in the garage and reorganizing all of her business stuff. She knows not to have me help becasue, even locked in steel my sarcasm is quick and sharp when I get frustrated doing those types of projects. She was out there for about 4 hours with an hour break for dinner. When it was done, we had another set of heavy duty wire shelves and our garage back.

I spent the 5 hours doing laundry, making lunch and dinner, cleaning the kitchen before and after dinner, and of course watching some college football. She was happy. I was happy. Things got done. Ultimatley, we both did what we do best for the afternoon, for what needed to be done, and had a great night’s sleep.

Why write this? I guess to emphasize that “traditional” roles do not always apply. Finding out what each person brings in to a relationship is what makes it strong!